The annual award recognizes a faculty person in the colleges Veterinary Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, and Agriculture whose work exemplifies all three pillars of land-grant missions. It was established in 2008 and named after Corinne Alexander, Extension economist and professor of agricultural economics.
Kladivko worked for 40 years at Purdue and has been a prolific researcher in soil management systems that promote environmental quality and agricultural sustainability.
Dr. Kladivko was instrumental in leading two major changes in agriculture: cover cropping as a technique for reducing soil erosion and farm field nutrient losses, and soil health, says Ron Turco (professor and department head of Agronomy).
Kladivko states that I was always interested to see how agriculture and the environment interacted. Her research has been focused on tile drainage and water quality; interactions between earthworms, soil management, and soil physical properties; conservation of tillage and cover crop for soil health Improvement; and preferential flow chemicals through soils.
Kladivko joined agronomy faculty 1982 as an applied soil scientist. She recalls that she was aware that I was the first female faculty member of the agronomy section. Everyone was friendly, supportive, and helpful. I may have had to work harder in order to prove myself, but they wanted me succeed.
Professors Jerry Mannering, Don Griffith and Kladivko immediately invited Kladivko for soil physical property measurements on plots. This was part of two studies comparing the effectiveness of different tillage systems when growing crops. She says she was almost an apprentice during that first season of their mentoring.
Kladivko, a new professor joined a team that conducted a study on Kladivko. water drainage projectOver 35 years, she would be involved in various aspects of the research. Kladivko began new field projects, which required Kladivko to continue collecting water samples and data. She took a 2003 sabbatical to Iowa to review these data and then delved into a detailed analysis that led to a series Extension publications describing tile drainage as an important agricultural water management practice for poorly drained soil.
Kladivko sought a new area of research to complement her earlier work. She explains that she had seen work in Europe and Australia on earthworms as part of no-till and improving soil porosity and water flow. At that time, only a few people in the U.S. were interested in earthworms in no till. Within a few years, I was being invited to give talks throughout the Midwest.
Her research was at forefront of soil biology. Cover crops have become more popular as people are more aware of the biological aspects that soil can provide, including earthworms. They’re part of improving biology because you feed the organisms better; no-till, on the other hand, is part of the biology to protect them.
Kladivko noted that cover crops had a positive impact on reducing nitrate levels in her Iowa study. While farmers knew cover crops were good to water quality, now they are gaining momentum for their impact on soil health.
She hopes that she has helped growers change their attitudes towards conservation tillage, cover crops. Kladivko, a former cover crop worker, believes there has been an evolution in our understanding of soil biology.
She was a founding member. Midwest Cover Crops CouncilIts executive committee was established in 2006 and it continues to be active. Kladivko will immediately show you the third edition, which is a popular Field Guide, and explain why her passion for the regional organization has not waned.
She said that she felt like they were making an impact. Each state has the resources and expertise to cover crop their own work. Working together can make research and extension more efficient.
Kladivkos works independently as well as in collaboration with USDAs Natural Resources Conservation ServiceAnd Indiana Conservation PartnershipConservation has grown in Indiana as more farmers are reevaluating their management practices to assess potential impacts on soil health and system resilience. With over a million acres of cover crops, Indiana is now the country’s largest state.
Kladivkos research is known for providing practical solutions to growers. This is an important part of her efforts to build a community that can help improve agriculture’s long-term sustainability. She believes that research and extension go hand-in-hand. Some research ideas come from me or my scientific colleagues. Talking with farmers generates more ideas, which I then try to implement in experiments.
This is quite a different way of thinking than what I thought when I was a young person learning about extension. It’s a lot more back and forth that I realized when I first started out.
Her research also finds its place in her soil physics classes. She says that it is probably the only soil science class in the country that has both a lecture on cover crops, and a lecture on earthworms. It’s not common. We also explore the entire soil health area, where I am doing a lot of research right now.
Kladivko believes that hands-on learning soils is the best way for them to be understood. My lab is not an example of theory; it is teaching practical methods that practitioners might use.
She says that her career at Purdue is characterized by three assets: Good colleagues and a positive work environment. And the freedom to do whatever I want, as long as it’s within reason. She has been a major influencer in the discussion about the impact of land practices, such as tillage, cover crops, on productivity, and promoted soil quality to ensure that soil productivity is maintained for future generations.
She says that the prestigious award validates her commitment to balance the three mission areas of the land-grant organization. She says that although I am not a superstar in any of these missions, this award is a confirmation that people appreciate what my work has done.
